Visitors to the Fine Foundation Chesil Beach Centre will be able to enjoy an art exhibition featuring local artist, Ian Dyke, called ‘Threatened Isle’. Inspired by the rugged and beautiful Isle of Portland, the exhibition features a series of dramatic and beautifully styled photographs of Gaia and Neptune, representing nature’s response to the destructive invasion of plastic. Also at Chesil, the Fleet Explorer boat trips have restarted in time for the summer holidays and can be booked online.
To get up close and personal with marine wildlife, Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Fine Foundation Wild Seas Centre in Kimmeridge Bay will be holding a ‘Rockpool Ramble’ on 26 July. If you are feeling a bit more adventurous, try the snorkel trail and perhaps you’ll come face to face with a colourful wrasse, large mullet or feisty crab.
Marc Kativu-Smith, Coastal Centres Manager said, “Every year Wildlife Trusts all around the UK join together to celebrate the amazing wildlife living in our seas and along our coasts from dolphin and seal spotting from the clifftops to rummaging for crabs and cushion stars in rockpools. . Our coastal centres at Kimmeridge, Chesil Beach and Brownsea Island will be helping individuals and families to explore the wonderful world of marine life by joining one of our Marine Weeks events and making the most of their time by the sea. The lockdowns and restrictions over the past 18 months have highlighted the importance of wildlife and nature, not just in its own right, but for our health and wellbeing. The Dorset coast is the perfect place to relax, explore, connect with nature and in many ways reconnect with ourselves.”
Another way of supporting Dorset’s magnificent marine wildlife is to donate to the Dorset Wildlife Trust Marine Appeal; recently launched to protect Dorset’s rich and diverse underwater habitats from the damaging effects of climate change, plastic pollution, cruise ships and invasive species. The Marine Appeal aims to raise £20,000 to fund important conservation work to safeguard Dorset’s diverse marine wildlife.
Marine Weeks events and activities